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VI D C. MILLS 




THE TWENTIETH CENTURY HAT FACTORY 



The 
Twentieth Century 

Hat Factory 



BY 

DAVID C. MILLS 



illustrated 



THE LEE-McLACHLAN COMPANY 

DANBURY, CONNECTICUT 



1910-1911 






•tie 



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-/ /. 



COPYRIGHT, 1911 

BY 

THE LEE-McLACHLAN COMPANY 



THE TUDOK PRLSS, N. V. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION— GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF PLANT AND 
DISCUSSION OF ITS PURPOSES 

CHAPTER II 

HATTERS" FUR AND THE FUR REFINING PROCESSES. 

CHAPTER III 
FORMING ROOM— FIRST STEP IN HAT MAKING 

CHAPTER IV 
SIZING ROOM— THE FELTING PROCESS, ETC. 

CHAPTER V 

DYEING— STIFFENING— FIRE PROTECTION 

CHAPTER VI 

TIP AND BRIM STRETCHING— ROUGH SHAPING OF THE HAT 

BODIES— DYEING 

CHAPTER VII 

THE FINISHING ROOMS— GIVING THE HAT ITS QUALITIES OF 

SHAPE AND FINISH 

CHAPTER VIII 

FLANGING— TRIMMING— PACKING AND SHIPPING- 
CONCLUSION 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY HAT FACTORY - u 

THE FOUR OLD FACTORIES 21 

THE BLOWING ROOM ...... 39 

FIVE POUNDS OF FUR READY TO BE BLOWN - - 43 

BIN OF BLOWN FUR 47 

THE FORMING ROOM ------ 51 

THE FORMER OPEN ------- 55 

THE FORMER CLOSED ------ 59 

STIFF HAT SIZING ROOM ------ 63 

SOFT HAT SIZING ROOM ------ 69 

STIFFENING ROOM ------- 7Q 

HAND BLOCKING, ETC. ------ 87 

SOFT HAT FINISHING ROOM ----- 9S 

STIFF HAT FINISHING ROOM - - - - - 103 

ANOTHER PART OF THE STIFF HAT FINISHING ROOM - 107 

SOFT HAT TRIMMING ROOM - - - - - 115 

A PART OF THE STIFF HAT TRIMMING ROOM - - 119 



-hL.. 




THE TWENTIETH CENTURY HAT FACTORY 




1NCE the publication of this book in 191 1, 
the name of the corporation has been 
changed to The Frank H. Lee Co., and 
the "Twentieth Century Hat Factory" is 
now devoted exclusively to the business of the 
Lee interests. It is presented to the trade with 
our compliments and we hope that it will be of 
interest to you. 

Sincerely yours, 

THE FRANK H. LEE CO. 



INTRODUCTION 
I'm-: Lee-McLachlan Factory 

WE may say, without exaggeration, that no hat factory con- 
structed in recent years has been the cause of so much 
discussion, so much criticism, favorable or otherwise, 
as the one recently erected and now in operation in the City of 
Danbury, known as the Lee-McLachlan factory. It is natural that 
there should be much discussion regarding this plant. It is the most 
ambitious undertaking of the kind that has ever been attempted in 
Connecticut (although there are several larger factories in Massachu- 
setts. Xew York and Pennsylvania), and it is the most modern factory 
making- both soft and stiff hats in the United States. It is unfortu- 
nately true that practically all of the discussion regarding this enter- 
prise has been lacking in a proper basis of knowledge of what the 
factory really is and what are the aims or purposes of its owners. It 
is to fill this want that this book is written. 

This factory was built to accommodate the normal amount of 
production of the four factories heretofore operated separately by 
Mr. Lee and Mr. McLachlan : that is to say, two rough shops, one soft 
-hop and one -tiff shop. The Lee-McLachlan Company is not, in 
reality, a manufacturing concern in the usual sense. It is a company 
formed for the purpose of providing a common plant, common power, 
common operating staff and common facilities for the manufacture of 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

hats according- to the individual requirements and necessities of two 
manufacturers. The Lee-McLachlan Company will make hats of the 
Lee kind, and also of the McLachlan kind. While this may appear to 
be a matter capable of endless confusion, it will not prove to be so in 
fact, for the whole difference will be provided for in the tickets made 
out in the office and accompanying- each group of hats in its passage 
through the factory. 

It is, therefore, apparent that the aim of this company is first to 
reduce the overhead expenses of the two concerns by furnishing one 
plant, then to reduce the direct costs on all goods by furnishing a 
thoroughly practical modern plant. These two functions are distinct, 
and this fact should be borne in mind now and in the future, for it is 
an innovation involving a degree of co-operation hitherto untried. Of 
course, the two groups of factories involved were not competitors, and 
it is impossible that such an arrangement could be worked satisfac- 
torily by competing firms ; but if it works smoothly in this case it will, 
in all probability, be followed by other groups of non-competing 
factories. 

In building the factory it was planned to provide a capacity equiv- 
alent to that of the combined four factories it supersedes, but it was 
also planned to provide for any necessary expansion of capacity the 
future might make necessary, although this was a secondary consid- 
eration. The arrangement, or layout, of buildings and machinery is 
designed to permit of almost unlimited capacity expansion without 

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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

disturbance to the continuity of processes. The long, narrow wings 
placed at right angles are peculiarly adaptable to such expansion. 

The four factories formerly operated by the two firms consisted 
of relatively small main buildings, with innumerable additions built on 
from time to time, for which the original plan of the main building 
did not provide and which added confusion to chaos, which, it may be 
said, is the general rule in hat factories. 

Tt is a difficult thing to arrange a plant, so that the hat will go 
from one process to another without retracing its course at any point. 
It is further complicated by the necessity of segregating the black 
from the colored stock during several processes. To this is added the 
further complication of the necessity of working soft and stiff hats in 
separate departments throughout a part of their courses. To add 
floor space without disturbing the balance of all the departments 
is something that requires great foresight and knowledge of mill 
construction. 

The factory consists primarily of one narrow L-shaped building, 
composed of two wings. All the actual manufacturing processes, from 
the blowing of the fur to the packing of the hats, are conducted in this 
building. The offices, fur and shellac storehouse and power plant are 
in three separate buildings, placed within the angle formed by the 
wings of the main building. Three switches, one owned by the rail- 
road, the others by the company, provide facilities for receiving or 
shipping coal, materials and hats. 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

power house equipment 

The J lower house is a brick structure absolutely fireproof, with 
concrete foundations, 93 feet x 64 feet. The power is furnished by 
three boilers of a total of 1,000 horsepower. Two boilers are sufficient 
to furnish all heat and power under ordinary conditions, while the 
third is used as an auxiliary. There is ample room for the installation 
of a fourth boiler, which would permit of the development of sufficient 
power to run the factory at double its present normal capacity. 

The power throughout the entire shop is generated by two Corliss 
engines of the latest type, direct connected to two generators having 
a combined capacity of 700 kilowatts. Tt is only necessary to make 
use of one unit under ordinary conditions, the other being held in 
reserve for emergency or any unusual load. 

The water for the kettles is first heated by the exhaust from the 
engines in coils in the basement of the power house, after which it 
is pumped to the kettles and kept at the right temperature by the 
injection of exhaust steam. 

The use of exhaust steam, that usually is neither more nor less 
than waste power, and consequently waste dollars, is carried out to 
the very last point of efficiency in this plant. Not only is it used in 
heating the kettles, but also in the ventilating process, to be described 
later, and in the drying rooms as well as for heating the buildings in 
winter and preserving the requisite degree of humidity in certain 
departments at all times. Of course, its use for these purposes in- 

24 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

volves the cost represented by a back-pressure of about six pounds, 
which slightly affects the engine efficiency, but this cost is infinitesimal 
in comparison with the usual waste wben using live steam. A back- 
pressure valve is provided to admit liYe steam from the boilers, to help 
out the exhaust under unusual conditions, but, as a rule, the exhaust 
is sufficient for all ordinary purposes. The result is economy, the 
paring down of coal bills to the last degree, the reduction of one of 
the most important overhead costs of manufacture. 

POWER transmission 

The direct-connected motor is everywhere in the new factory, and 
belts and shafting practically nowhere. This is carried out in every 
department to the great benefit of the operatives and to the equally 
great benefit of the owners. With all kinds of employers' liability 
legislation "in the air," it behooves the manufacturer to safeguard 
the employees from unnecessary risk, as well from a strictly prac- 
tical standpoint as from that of the humanitarian. But aside from any 
danger of loss through damages in case of accident there is a direct 
loss not easily measured when a man is injured in the shop, a loss due 
to the demoralization of the whole force. Manufacturers are coming 
into a greater appreciation of this risk, and in consequence belts, 
shafts, and all the innumerable dangers of the old-fashioned factory 
are disappearing. 

There is claimed for the ''individual motor-driven system" that 
it is more economical in point of actual cost than shaft-driven machin- 

25 



Tin: Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

ery, but that is a matter of question still open for debate. The fact 
remains, however, that it is the safest, the cleanest, and generally the 

most satisfactory method. 

VENTILATION, HUMIDITY, TEMPERATURE AND THE CONTROL OF 
EXCESS STEAM IX THE SIZING ROOM 

The "Sturtevant System" is installed for the purpose of venti- 
lation and for the elimination of steam in the plank shop. This con- 
sists of a motor-driven fan that draws air from the open through a 
radiator, which is heated by the exhaust from the engine, driving it 
thence through conduits to various points in the plank shop, where it 
is let into the room through easily-regulated orifices near the floor. 
The healed air keeps the steam in a sufficient state of vaporization to 
permit of its being pumped out of the room through a return series 
of conduits. 

This svstem not only removes the steam, which is frequently a 
source of annoyance in the plank shop, hut it also admits of a com- 
plete change of air throughout the entire plant in an incredibly short 
time (about five minutes, if necessity requires), and regulates the 
temperature of the rooms at the same time. 

The matter of humidity in all the processes of hat manufacture 
is most important. In the blowing room this is always provided for 
by the injection of steam into the room until the required degree of 
humidity is obtained. Usually live steam is used, but again in this 
shop the usage is to employ waste steam, steam that has expended 

26 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

every available pound of its energy that is capable of being used as 
motive power, and, in this particular department, the steam used is 

the exhaust from the plank shop. 

THE FACTORY BUILDING 

There has been some astonishment that this concern did not 
follow the precedents established in recent examples of factory con- 
struction in the hat trade, and build a concrete and steel structure. 
It is recognized that the difference in cost, though considerable in a 
tacton- of this size, would not he of such importance to deter the men 
who had the planning of this enterprise in mind. There are consid- 
erations favoring the use of concrete that so far outweigh the differ- 
ence in cost that there must he some good reason for not using- it in the 
present case. The reason is simple enough. One may accept it 
as rational or otherwise — and it is a matter open for differences 
of opinion. 

Messrs. Lee and McLachlan, after weighing all the advantages 
and disadvantages of both wood and concrete construction, decided on 
the former chiefly hecause of their belief in the superiority of wooden 
buildings for hat manufacture, regardless of its possible disadvan- 
tages in other trades. They hold that humidity and temperature are 
more readily controlled in the well-built wooden structure than in the 
brick or concrete building. The construction presents no apparent 
changes from other recent examples of first-class mill construction, 
excepting that it is worthy of note that the building is separated into 

27 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

several comparatively small fire zones by the erection of substantial 
fire walls with modern firedoors, etc. In consequence of this, then- 
insurance rates are one-fifteenth of their rates in the old shops. 

The sprinkler system is especially worthy of note on account of 
its ample capacity. It has not been very many years since sprinklers 
were first installed, hut, as time goes on, there are more and more 
instances of the failure of sprinkler systems when and where most 
needed. It is no very intricate task to lay out a system. One merely 
figures distances, friction, and diameters of pipes, seeing to it that the 
standpipes and mains are of sufficient capacity to feed all the branches, 
and that the pressure is sufficient to overcome the loss of head through 
friction. But in the older systems the loss of head was figured on 
a basis of the friction on a new pipe and did not provide for additional 
loss due to incrustations that form within the tubes. Tt is known now 
that these incrustations are sufficient, in the course of years, to effect 
a complete loss of head in so large a tube as a 12-inch water main, 
so that with high pressure at the headgate the engines have strugo-led 
with a vacuum at the other end, a mile or so away. In the necessarily 
smaller pipes of a factory sprinkler system this question becomes one 
of prime importance, and it can only be overcome by the use of large 
pipes with frequent connections with the mains. The sprinkler system 
in this shop is certainly ample to meet any requirement now and for 
years hence, and a careful examination of it would, no doubt, lead 
many a manufacturer to install a new sprinkler system for the sake 
of safety and reasonable insurance rates. 

28 



The Twentieth Century I Tat Factory 

TI1F. BUILDING 

The main building consists of two wings, joined by a brick tower. 
The southern wing, containing the back shop departments, is oi two 
stories for part of its length ( 308 feet '). rising to three on approaching 

the angle (a distance o\ no feet). The tower and front shop wing 
are of four stories throughout, the front shop wing being 280 feet 
long. The distance from end to end of the factory along the outer 
wall is 77S feet. 

It mav be somewhat more interesting to trace the processes 
from place to place rather than to describe the factory one floor 
after another. 

BLOWING ROOM 

The blowing room is on the second floor at the extreme end of 
the back shop wing. Its equipment is like that in use elsewhere, but 
there is a difference from ordinary usage in the larger number of 
sections to each blower. There arc 16 sections to each. 208 sections 
all told. The machines are driven with direct-connected motors. The 
room itself is 165 feet by 40 feet. As stated previously the humidity 
i- regulated by the injection of waste steam from the plank shop. 

FORM [NG ROOM 

The forming room is immediately under the blowing room on the 
first or ground floor. Tt is also 165 feet by 40 feet, and contains 15 

29 



The Twentieth Century Mat Factory 

formers, with a daily capacity of from 50 to 60 dozens each. This, 
of course, is the measure of the factory's capacity under present condi- 
tions. The formers are of an improved design, having self-oiling 
bearings, and direct-driven side-draft exhaust fan, capable of adjust- 
ment according to the weight of the hats. The tubs for the immersion 
el the newly-formed bodies are sunk in the cement floor, while troughs, 
sunken in the floor, provide adequate drainage. The exhaust room 
is a cement chamber beneath the floor of the forming room. 

PLANK SHOP 

The still hat sizing room is on the first floor, hut as this process 
is the first in which there is any radical difference for soft and stiff 
hats, the soft hat plank shop is placed on the second floor. 

The stiff hat blocking, stretching and stiff and soft hlack dyeing 
are all done on the first, hut all fancy-colored goods are deed on the 
second floor. The stiffening' room is also on the second, a part of 
which is also devoted to an alcohol recovery apparatus. 

The third floor of the hack shop wing is a storage room for hat 
bodies, and also accommodates a soft hat pouncing department. 

Dimensions are of some interest. Taking the back shop 
wing', floor by floor, we can give the dimensions more readily than 
otherwise. 

The extreme length of the first floor on the outer wall, including 
the connecting tower, is 458 feet, while its width is 40 feet. The tower 
is 40 feet by 40 feet. The stiff hat plank shop, including dyeing, 

30 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

blocking and stretching departments, is 23] feet by 40 feet. A dress- 
ing room between the Forming and sizing room is 22 feet by 40 feet. 
The Forming room is [65 feci by 40 feet. 

On the second floor the blowifig room is 165 feet by 40 feet, 
dressing room. 22 feet by 40 feet; soft hat sizing room, 143 feet by 
40 feet : stiffening room, 88 feet by 40 feet. 

The third floor storage room for bodies is no feet by 40 feet. 

DRV 1 NG APPARATUS 

In hat manufacture as much of the real work is accomplished 
by wetting and drying the felt as by the "elbow-grease" of the em- 
ployees. It is a simple matter to wet the bodies, but everlastingly 
tedious and difficult to dry them properly. 

The old way was to place them on racks, in a room surrounded 
by steam pipes. No attempt was made to draw off the moisture-laden 
air. and hats dried in from twelve to twenty-four hours. Then fans 
were installed to pump out the moisture. Later the idea was con- 
ceived of raising the hat slowly through a heated chimney-like room. 
Still later, a drying room was made in which the hats, resting on 
racks, were suhiected to a strong current of heated air, which was 
immediately pumped from the compartment. 

The svstem in use at the Lee-McLachlan factory combines these 
last-mentioned systems. The tower at the angle of the two wings is 
principally devoted to the drying elevator, for so it should properly 
he called. An endless chain sprocket, traveling over a series of 
sprocket wheels at the top and near the door of one side of the room 

31 



The Twentieth Century Mat Factory 

or shall, is connected by a number of rods to a similar chain traveling 1 
over a corresponding scries of sprocket wheels at the other side of 
the room. The hat racks are hung on hangers, swinging freely upon 
these rods, each carrying a dozen wet hats. As the sprocket wheels 
revolve the chain elevator carries its load upward slowly, downward, 
upward again, and so on. 

In the cement floor of the shaft are a number of holes, perhaps 
a loot in diameter, through which hot air is forced upward into the 
chamber. This air takes np the moisture, and, under pressure, carries 
it through outlets in the ceiling to the open air. The air pressure is 
furnished by a powerful blower adjacent to the drying chamber that 
forces the air through a tubular heater capable of being raised to any 
desired temperature by the injection of exhaust steam or live steam, 
it necessary. 

It is, therefore, possible to heat the air in the drying chamber to 
any necessary degree of temperature, and, by regulating the velocity 
of the blower, give it sufficient force to carry the load of moisture out 
into the open air. Tt may he well to mention the fact that the drying 
chamber is divided into two sections, in one of which the bodies are 
dried, while the other accommodates the hats ready for the front shop. 

On each floor there are doors opening into this drying room, so 
that the hats may he put in or taken out whenever or wherever they 
are wanted. 

From the standpoint of mechanical progress this drying appa- 
ratus is quite the most interesting thing in the factory. 

3^ 



The Twentieth Century Mat Factory 

FRONT SHOP 

The soft hat finishing department occupies the entire fourth floor 
of the Front shop wing-, the hats being delivered there by the apparatus 
in the drying chamber. This room, 280 feet long by 40 feet wide, 
contains all the soft hat processes beyond those of the make shop. 
From here they are delivered direct to the packing room on the 
ground door by elevator at the extreme end of the building. The 
processes follow one another in this room as elsewhere, so that the 
hats always travel Forward. Heat for the shells, flanging bags, curl- 
ing and ironing machines is given by electricitv; an advance over 
common practice that is sanitary and, moreover, economical when 
die current is "home made," as it is in this shop. Other items of a 
mechanical nature are similar to those generally in use in modern 
nat factories. 

The stiff hat front shop occupies two entire floors of this wing. 
The stiff finishing room is on the third, while matricing, curling and 
stiff hat trimming rooms are on the second. The hats are conveyed 
from one part of each room to the part devoted to the next step in 
their manufacture, and from the third to the second floor by overhead 
endless-chain conveyor. 

The empty racks in the packing room are also placed on this con- 
veyor, which conveniently passes along' the ceiling" of the first floor, 
through the floor of the trimming room, and thence to the fourth floor. 

The hats are taken from the trimming room to the packing room 
on the elevator that performs a like service for the soft hat department. 



The Twentieth Century Mat Factory 

PACK] NG ROOM, ETC. 

The first floor contains a fully-equipped machine shop, printing 
and band box factory, packing case factory, and finally the packing 
and shipping room. A door at the extreme end of this floor opens on 
a private switch, where the cases may be loaded on the freight cars at 
leisure, which, of course, does away with by far the greater part 
of the usual cost for cartage. 

This marks the close of the processes of manufacture in the Lee- 
McLachlan Company's plant. We have, we believe, set forth the 
salient features of the subject under discussion as briefly and as thor- 
oughly as possible for the readers of this treatise who are, for the 
most part, unfamiliar with the technicalities of hat manufacture, mill 
construction and mechanical appliances, lint we would hardly be 
justified in ending this chapter without some reference, even though 
necessarily brief, to the provisions for the comfort and safety of 
employees. We have referred to the use of direct-driven machinery, 
that so completely does away with the danger from hells and shafting. 
We also referred to the especially efficient methods employed to ven- 
tilate the entire plant and to remove the steam from the plank shop, 
and also to the excellent drainage of the plank shop floor. The win- 
dow space in all departments provides a maximum of light and air. 
The windows are each in two sections, an upper and a lower, and 
each section swings open or shut on a horizontal axis, the resulting 
aperture being adjustable according to any desire or necessity. The 
building being but forty feet wide is flooded with light. Each depart- 

34 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

ment is furnished with one or more wash-rooms, fitted with ample 
facilities for washing 1 and dressing. There are many closets of the 
best design, and in these, as elsewhere, open plumbing assures perfect 
sanitation. Elevators are provided, with heavy self-opening and self- 
closing; trap doors, and the starting apparatus is self-locking. Even 
the stairs are placed at an angle that assures safety as far as possible, 
even though at the expense of a little space. The whole shop seems 
to be planned with a view to the conditions affecting' the workmen, 
their reasonable comfort and satisfaction, while engaged in their 
daily labor. 



35 



II 

Hatters' Fur and the 1 .lowing Room 

NO doubt everyone who sells hats knows that they are made 
oi fur. principally of rabbit fur, but few not directly 
- connected with the manufacturing branch of the trade 
can appreciate the importance of the different phases ol the fur 
question to the hat manufacturer. The fur of each variety of fur- 
bearing- animal produces a different result, when worked into felt, 
from other varieties. Different lengths of the fur fibre, even though 
taken from the same animal, produce different results. The same 
thing is true of fur fibres of different diameters, or those taken from 
different parts of the same skin or from the skins of animals of vari- 
ous ages, or caught in different lands, localities, latitudes, and alti- 
tudes. Even the manner of killing the animal, the length of time it 
is dead before skinning, and the time the fur is kept in certain condi- 
tions of temperature and humidity all play an important part in the 
"workability" of the fur and in the final result. 

The business of preparing fur for hatting purposes, is, in reality, 
a separate and distinct industry and should be discussed in an article 
devoted exclusively to that subject which is as broad as the subject 
of hat manufacture and also intensely interesting. We shall not 
attempt to describe the treatment of the fur in this article but only 
refer briefly to some of its features. 

The fur used in hatting is, as we have said, principally that of 
the rabbit or "conev." Hare's fur is the most important, while nutria 

37 



The Twentieth Century Mat Factory 

and beaver are used in the finest grades, the latter rarely used at all 
nowadays, although formerly it was the chief constituent of all good 
fell hats. 

The supply of rabbit fur comes from Great Britain, Australia, 
Tasmania and New Zealand principally. Hares come from Europe — 
France, Belgium, Germany, Austria. Russia and Northern Italy. 
Nutria is a relative of the heaver living in South America, while the 
chief source of the very limited supply of the true heaver is in Canada. 
( )ther furs .also used include seal, mink, muskrat, etc. 

The fur is treated, while still on the skin, with nitrate of mercury. 
This process, which is known as "carroting," is employed to open out 
the texture of each fibre and thereby render it better suited for felt- 
ing. A fur fibre is not the smooth cylindrical tube it appears to the 
naked eye. Under a microscope it has the appearance of a number 
of table glasses set each within the other, the rim of each section 
being uneven, hut the unevenness being similar in all fibres of the 
same variety. The nitrate of mercury eats away the oil or grease 
on each fur fibre and opens out the "rims of the cups." This is neces- 
sary because felting does not consist alone of the interweaving of 
fibres hut also of their interlocking by means of these projecting flanges 
on each fibre. 

From the fur factory each variety of fur is delivered to the 
"blowing room'' of the hat factory in paper bags, containing exactly 
five pounds of fur. As the price of fur. as of all commodities, depends 
upon its supply as related to the demand, the scarcer varieties are the 

38 




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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

more costly and, in consequence, it is the aim of the halter to mix the 
various kinds of fur in such proportion as to give the desired result 
at the least possible expense. Success in hat manufacture may be 
said to depend to sonic extent on one's skill in making- mixtures of 
fur. Even the color of very light shades is dependent upon the fur 
mixture to such a degree that a man might be an excellent chemist 
and color mixer, thoroughly familiar with every detail of the theoret- 
ical aspect of dyes and dyeing, but unless he had a thorough knowl- 
edge of fur mixtures, indeed of the very mixture in the hat he was 
trying to dye, he would be unable to obtain the desired color effect 
except by accident or tedious and costly experimental work. 

When the manufacturer has decided upon the mixture the differ- 
ent furs are placed in layers in a bin, after which they are sometimes 
thoroughly mixed with a fork. Every effort is made to insure a thor- 
ough mixing of the various grades and kinds of fur. From this bin 
the roughly mixed fur is transferred to a mixer consisting of a large 
box, partly wire screened, containing toothed cylinders revolving at 
terrific speed. These teeth not only toss the fur about, mixing it 
thoroughly, but also tear the individual fibres apart from one another. 
The '"blower," the next machine in the order of procedure, carries 
forward the process of mixing and separating and, in addition, it 
cleanses the fur, removing all dirt and dags. A blower is divided into 
a number of sections, each section being a complete machine in itself, 
performing its own service and passing the fur on to the next section. 
"> ears ago hatters were not as particular about this, process as they 

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4> 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

arc to-day; they did not appreciate the advantages to be derived from 
thoroughly refining the fur. Six sections were then considered as 
quite sufficient for all practical purposes. To-day from twelve to forty 
sections arc used. All these sections may not be in one machine. In 
the Lee-McLachlan factory 208 sections are used in order to mix 
and clean the fur to the last degree, by machines ranging from six 
to sixteen sections. As this process is highly important it is worthy 
of description in detail. 

After the fur is removed from the "mixer" it is fed into a hopper 
from which it falls upon an endless belt conveyor. Two corrugated 
rolls of small diameter pick the fur from this conveyor and pass it 
between them to a toothed cylinder of much greater diameter that 
revolves at a very high speed. Its velocity is so great as compared 
with the speed of the two small rolls that slowly turn the fur into 
the compartment, that the fur fibres are torn apart and tossed to the 
top of the section. 

As the fur is tossed to the top of the compartment or section of 
blower the heavier particles at once fall hack. In falling they pass 
between the toothed roll or "picker" and a second conveyor through 
a space a few inches wide. This heavy matter is composed largely of 
dirt, very short fur, carrot dags, skin dags, etc. Carrot dags, which 
by the way arc much more numerous than skin dags, are very hard 
to separate. As they are formed of two or more fur fibres stuck 
together at one end by the carroting solution they present a surface 
to the air currents out of all proportion to their weight, acting on 

42 




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the principle of the aeronaut's parachute, and are carried onward 
with the clear fur. Their removal depends almost entirely upon the 
action of the toothed rolls, which may be depended upon with 
reasonable certainty to tear apart the recalcitrant fibres if the blowing- 
process is carried through enough sections. This difficulty is experi- 
enced in the greatest measure in the case of carrot dags of hares' fur, 
the wavy nature of which makes it all the better parachute. Very few 
skin dags pass through the blowers without being separated from 
the clear stock. 

As the refuse falls through the narrow space and out of the 
blower the lighter fur is carried onward by the air currents set in 
motion by the revolving cylinder, and, eventually falls upon the second 
belt conveyor after passing over the narrow waste passage. The 
second belt carries it to two more small corrugated rolls which feed 
it into the second section, and so on. 

In order to facilitate the blowing process it is necessary to keep 
the temperature in the blowing room rather high. If the air is too 
cold the fur fibres cling together and effectually resist every effort to 
separate them from one another. To get an even, smooth felt it is 
absolutely necessary that each fur fibre should be separate from 
all others. 

Each section of the blower is covered with wire screening of 
quite fine mesh. This is used in place of some tight covering because 
it permits of the free circulation of the air within each section and 

obviates the danger of cyclonic air currents that would certainly form 

j 

45 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

in a closed compartment and result in the failure of the purposes of 
litis machine. 

Now while ii is necessary to keep the room warm it must not 
be of a dry warmth. For when the air becomes too dry, liner particles 
of fur work their -way through the wire mesh, making the room most 
uncomfortable and causing serious loss from waste. A steam pipe 
heats the room and, when occasion requires, steam from this pipe is 
allowed to escape into the room, thus adding moisture to the atmos- 
phere. Too much moisture in the air would he quite as disadvan- 
tageous as too little. Dry fur will absorb moisture until it becomes 
so heavy, in proportion to its hulk, that it is practically impossible to 
blow it. Moreover the moisture upon the surfaces of all the fihres 
forms a bond that holds the mass together. Tt is, therefore, absolutely 
necessary to keep the temperature and humidity of the blowing room 
under careful control. In this factory a considerable economy is 
effected by using the waste steam from the plank shop (which is on 
the floor below), for the purpose of regulating the temperature and 
humidity of the blowing room. 

When the fur has heen thoroughly blown, when each fibre has 
been separated from all the others and the dirt and da«"s have been 
removed as completely as possible, the manufacturer finds that he has 
purchased a quantity of material which has a very limited value. 
However, much of this refuse may be returned to the fur factory 
and worked up into short stock by special treatment. 



46 



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BIN OF BLOWN FUR JUST AS IT LEAVES THE BLOWERS, AFTER HAVING BEEN 

THOROUGHLY MIXED AND REFINED 



Ill 

The Forming Room 

IN the last chapter we described the mixing and refining processes 
by which the Eur is prepared for the felting process. Felt differs 
from woven fabrics in that it is made up of fibres that are 
interwoven and interlocked by means of their lateral projections, and 
each fibre thus interwoven and interlocked with other fibres, whereas 
in the woven fabric the fibres are merely interwoven by groups; that 
is to say, the fibres in woven fabric are twisted into threads and the 
threads are interwoven. As in a woven fabric, the groups of fibres 
are only connected by interweaving, and are, moreover, arranged in 
groups either parallel or at right angles to each other, a woven fabric 
may be torn apart along a straight line, while the felt fabric, consist- 
ing of fibres going every which way, each interlocked as w r ell as inter- 
woven, with a number of other fibres, cannot easily be torn along a 
straight line, and if torn or cut cannot be brought together again. 

As the felt fabric consists of fibres interwoven at every possible 
angle, its surface presents a smooth, unmarked appearance; there are 
no parallels or right angles, no designs or figures apparent. Conse- 
quentlv there is no need to cut the fabric "to match" in making a 
hat or any other felt article. It is therefore not only possible, but 
even necessary, to start the work in the general form that will appear 
in the completed article. When the fibres are once thoroughly inter- 
locked the shape of the mass cannot be greatly changed without 

49 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

destroying" the fabric. For this reason the Fur fibres are first joined 
together in the shape of a cone, that being" the form most nearly 
approaching in similarity the rough outlines of a hat. 

Passing from the blowing room in bins, as previously described, 
the fur is taken to the "forming mill." In the F.ee-McLachlan factory 
the forming room is [65 feet long by 40 feet wide, containing 16 
formers, each having a capacity of from 50 to 60 dozens of medium 
and tine fur felt hats per day. These formers are placed in a row 
down the centre of the room, a wide passage behind them affording 
ample space for the fur bins and along the other side of the room, 
in the light by the windows, the "hardeners*' have their benches. 

In this factory the formers are run by electric power, individual 
motors, and for reasons of practical economy an especial study was 
made of the "varying load" problem involved in this instance. Stated 
in its most elementary form, the problem is this: — "If a fan can pump 
a given number of cubic feet of air through a given number of holes 
in a given period of time, it will require less power to draw the air 
at the same velocity through a lesser number of holes or through the 
same number partially closed by an overlying layer of fur fibres. This 
being so, it follows that if the power exerted remains constant then 
there must necessarily be considerable waste of power during part 
of the operation." The solution of this problem and the adaptation 
of the machinery to the results attained by the investigation, means 
a saving in the coal bill, and consequently in the cost of producing 
each hat. 

50 




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Tite Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

To return to the forming process, the mixed and blown fur is 
now weighed out and placed in boxes consisting of twelve sections or 
compartments, each section holding the allotment of fur for one hat. 
This box is carried to the feeder of the "forming machine," who feeds 
the fur as evenly as possible and at regular intervals upon the apron 
of the former. 

From the apron of the former the fur passes between two small 
corrugated rolls, to be torn and tossed by the teeth of a large roll, 
as in the blower, but instead of falling back upon a belt conveyor it 
falls into a closed compartment containing a perforated copper cone 
upon which it is drawn by means of an exhaust fan placed beneath 
the machine. The general processes of forming stiff or soft hats 
do not vary to any great extent, but owing to the absence of any 
great quantity of stiffening in the soft hat its shape is maintained by 
the strength of the felt itself. The shape of the crown, which is 
nothing more than an infinite number of arches bound to each other, 
gives strength to that part of the hat. The lateral stress upon the 
part of the hat which encircles the forehead is taken up by the sweat 
leather on the inside and the hat-band on the outside, so that its 
permanency is secure. But the brim is subjected to stresses from 
which it has no protection. Its own weight tends to bend it down- 
ward, and it is in almost constant use as a "handle." The wider it is 
the greater is the leverage and the more severe the stress. Some 
shellac ma}- be used to help in this respect, but hardness is a quality 

53 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

thai must be avoided at all costs. Ii is necessary to use more fur in 
the brim than elsewhere. This is a delicate problem, taxing the skill 
"I the foreman of the Forming room to the utmost. 

To gel the fur distributed upon the surface of the cone from apex 
to base is not a simple matter. The fur naturally tends to fall perpen- 
dicularly from the top of the compartment, where it enters to the floor, 
hut the air currents due to the suction of the exhaust fan deflect the 
fibres from their natural course. In the closed compartment the direc- 
tion of the air currents is from the to]) diagonally downward to the 
cone. To distribute the fur just where it is needed it is necessary 
to control the force and direction of the air currents. This is done 
by setting up cross currents. In the sides of the compartment there 
are a number of windows that may he opened or closed by slide shut- 
ters. By experiment the coner, or rather the foreman of the forming 
room, learns just how much to open these slides and which slides to 
open in order t<> accomplish the purposes he has in mind for his 
hat body. 

After the cone has received its covering of fur the coner opens 
a door in the side of the compartment and quickly hut very carefully 
lays moist burlap over the top of the cone, while another piece is 
wound about its sides swathing it from tip to hase in damp hnrlap. 
These cloths are cut to fit in order to avoid creases and wrinkles. 
Over all the operative slips an inverted funnel. He then lifts the cone 
and its coverings from the compartment, places it upon a frame and 
lowers it into a vat of warm water. It remains there until automati- 

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cally raised. As both the copper cone and the funnel are perforated 
the fur between them is thoroughly soaked in the warm bath. 

The coner now lifts off the inverted funnel, turns the cone upside 
down and slips the fur coating off with the ends of his ringers. 

The felting" process had commenced the moment the cone was 
lowered into the vat of warm water. When the fur cone was abso- 
lutely drv the fibres had not interlocked their scales. A careless touch 
with the fingers or a dash of water will easily separate the fibres in 
the fabric at that stage. Upon being dampened they are bound 
together to a certain extent by the molecular attraction of the films 
of water with which each fibre is covered. This bond is, of course, 
extremely weak, but it is appreciable, nevertheless. When the fibres 
feel the effect of the heat and moisture they expand, not much, per- 
haps, but enough to make them travel far enough to interlock their 
scales here and there with the scales of other fibres. If the bodv 
should be dried out thoroughly at this stage it would be found to 
have greater strength than it had before its immersion, but not enough 
to permit of its being handled. The fibres must be interlocked still 
more. The body must be "hardened." 

HARDENING 

The "hardener" is the next man to carry forward the work. As 
we have indicated, the hat is now a cone of fur some three feet high, 
about two feet in diameter at the base, and held together by the 
weakest bonds imaginable. It must be reduced in size and its differ- 

57 



The Twentieth Ckxtcrv Mat Factory 

ent particles so thoroughly interlocked that the most severe treatment 
could not again separate them. This is a shrinking process — nothing 
more — and is accomplished In' means of hot water and compression. 

Bui at the first Stage the cone is so delicate that it must he handled 
with great care, and, very naturally, the process of shrinkage is con- 
veniently divided into several separate operations. 

The hardener, working at a bench behind the forming machines. 
carefully sprinkles the fur cone with hot water from a brush, and, 
wrapping it in a cloth, rolls it this way and that for a few times, always 
with extreme care that the delicate structure should not become sepa- 
rated. 1 Ic opens it out and examines it for imperfections, dags (pieces 
of skin or matted hair) that have escaped the blowers, weak places in 
the cone where the coating has been unevenly distributed or the fur 
become separated in handling. These he must attend to. If the dag 
is found it is removed with the fingers, or sometimes a pair of tweez- 
ers. If a thin spot shows, the hardener picks up a little fur from the 
stock he has at hand, lavs it upon the weak place and gentle but firmly 
taps the patch with the bristles of a stiff-haired brush until it is evenly 
worked into the body. When the hardener is through with his work 
the cone is still very tender, but it has knitted more closely together 
and has some strength. It then passes into the sizing room. 



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The Sizing Room 

THE sizing- room is the first in which there is a radical differ- 
ence between making- soft and stiff hats. Consequently, in 
the Lee-McLachlan factory one room on the first floor is 
devoted to stiff hat sizing and one on the second to soft hat sizing. 

The starter now takes his turn in the manipulation of the cone. 
"Starting" is almost universally done by hand, although in a few 
factories machines are used. The starter does nearly the same work 
as the hardener, but instead of sprinkling the cone he rolls it in a 
cloth and dips it into a tub or kettle. In fact, the difference between 
his work and that of the hardener is merely in the vigor with which 
he goes about it. He applies less care and more "elbow grease." The 
machine used is simply the sizing machine minus the compression 
roller, the cone rolled up in its cloth being tumbled about a few times 
upon two wooden rollers of larger diameter than in the sizing machine, 
revolving in opposite directions. The motion knits the fibres more 
closely together. 

After the starter has shrunk and strengthened the body some- 
what it passes into the hands of the sizer. He does practically the 
same work as the starter, but in a still more vigorous manner. He 
kneads and dips and rolls the cone with apparently little regard for 
the result. But nevertheless he must watch his work with the utmost 
care. He must roll it from every direction to keep an even thickness 
throughout. He must stretch it over his hands at frequent intervals 

6 1 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

to prevent opposite sides from felting together. Little lumps of matted 
fur, or hair worn from the surface of the hat bodies during their 
manipulation, are again caught upon their surfaces as they are lifted 
horn the water, .and, unless detected and removed, they will appear 
as surface dags. If opposite sides fell together even for a few min- 
utes without detection, a mark will appear on the finished hat, com- 
monly called a "streak" or a "lightning rod." During this process 
the careless workman laws the foundation of future trouble in all 
departments. In fact. Haws enter into the hat here in spite of every 
painstaking effort, and in many cases they cannot he detected until the 
hats have passed through several more processes, with a consequent 
loss of material and labor. 

There are some minor differences between soft and stiff hat siz- 
ing. For instance, in soft hat sizing the body is worked as much 
on one side as on the other, because, unless it has left the finishing 
room, it is reversible, owing to the absence of stiffening in the crown. 
Less care in this respect is necessary in the case of the stiff hat, for, 
once it is stiffened, it cannot he turned inside out. The soft hat sizer 
must also keep in mind the difference in thickness from crown to 
brim, and must perform his work not only with a view to preserving 
this difference, hut also to accentuate it, or at least to increase the 
strength of the brim by interlocking its fibres more thoroughlv than 
is necessary in the crowai. 

The work is not only exacting in regard to the degree of skill 
which it calls for, but it is trying on account of the necessarily humid 

62 




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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

surroundings. In the back shop, as it is called, there is always, before 
everything-, a superabundance of moisture. Under certain atmos- 
pheric conditions the steam from the vats of hot water so completely 
tills the room that it is practically impossible for one not thoroughly 
familiar with the surroundings to find his way about without danger 
from machinery and belting. Exhaust fans are used, and, if of 
sufficient capacity, they have an appreciable effect upon the amount of 
steam in the rooms. In the modern factory the use of individual 
motors for each machine is rapidly supplanting the shaft and belt sys- 
tem, and. of course, this reduces the danger from that source. This 
is especiallv true of the Lee-McLachlan factory, where electric power 
and individual motors are used wherever their use is possible. A most 
recent improvement, known as the Sturtevant system, is said to work 
very well in keeping the room free from steam. Reference to this 
system was made in the first article. It consists of a large blower, 
motor-driven, that draws air from the outside of the building through 
coils heated by exhaust steam from the engine, and forces it through 
conduits to convenient parts of the building. This hot, dry air is 
admitted into the sizing room near the floor. A return series of 
conduits with orifices near the ceiling takes the moisture-laden air 
out of the building. By regulating this system according to the 
requirements of temperature and humidity, the sizing room may be 
kept comparatively free from steam, no matter what the weather 
conditions may be. 

In spite of the steam and water, or rather because of them, it is 

65 



The Twentieth Century Mat Factory 

a fact very generally accepted that many of the sizers live to a very 
old age. Indeed, die oldest men in the Factory may be found in the 
sizing room. The reason of this is very simple. In this room there 
is absolutely no dust or fur floating in the air. It is the only room 
in a hat factory where this is true. 1 1 a speck of dust or a piece of 
fur gets into the room it immediately becomes heavy with moisture 
and falls to the lloor. Thus the steam which would otherwise he 
an unmitigated nuisance does valuable service in keeping the air pure. 
To return to the subject. We have discussed the hand method 
of sizing, hut the sizing machine is a far more important considera- 
tion in modern hatting than the hand method. In machine sizing 
the work is conveniently divided into three stages. In the first stage 
the hod}- is alternately dipped in the kettle and rolled over and over, 
not rapidly, upon two parallel wooden rolls. This is just a step above 
the starting process, and the machine is in reality a modified form of 
the starting machine. The main difference between the two is in the 
size of the wooden rolls ( which is much less in the sizing machine than 
in the starter) and in the speed with which these rolls revolve (the 
sizing machine running more rapidly than the starter). From this 
sizing machine the body is passed to a second, which differs from 
the first in that it has a third roll, placed above the other two, pressing 
lightly upon the body as it is tumbled about. In this machine the 
speed is considerably advanced. "Lags," wooden cleats fastened to 
the rolls, serve to prevent the bod}' from slipping, thus making it 
revolve, and also, by striking the felt with great rapidity, impart 

66 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

sonic of their energy to the fibres, which consequently travel more 
readily. The third machine is like the second, but is run at a greater 
speed. Usually the lags are modified on the third roll of this machine, 
being a number of curved cleats winding around the roll. A section 
cut through the cleat and roll would have the appearance of a dis- 
torted disc. These cleats, if the}' may be so called, give the body a 
wabbling- motion. 

The pressure, whether applied by hand or by machine, has the 
same effect in working the fibres more closely together. The action 
is comparatively simple. As the pressure is applied each fibre is bent 
slightly. "When it is released from pressure, or when the pressure 
is applied in another direction, the fibre straightens out. But its 
scales prevent it from moving - except in the one direction — towards 
its root — and consequently it moves in that direction about half as 
far as it was bent out of true. This advance would be in a straight 
line, approximately speaking, if the root end of the fibre met with 
no obstacle ; but in practice it meets with one obstacle after another. 
Following the line of least resistance, it passes over one fibre, under 
another, turning- this way and that, until it is closely interwoven with 
the other fibres. This is, of course, especially true of the longer 
fibres, upon which the strength of the felt is dependent. But the more 
firmly these are interwoven the firmer grip they have upon the short 
stock. The short stock is also held to the long fur by the mutual 
interlocking of the scales on their fibres. You see that, while we 
may speak of the weaving together of the fur fibres, it is not the 

67 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

weaving that is understood in the case of woven textiles. In the 
latter there is no felting to speak of, no interlocking of fibres. 

A peculiarity of the sizing process is the variation in the amount 
of effort required to felt bodies of different compositions or mixtures. 
Although the finer furs, because of the prominence of their scales, may 
"start" more readily than the lower grades, they are more difficult 
to advance beyond the starting point. It is upon this question that 
the scale of prices tor piece-work in the sizing" room is based. The 
cheapest hats — those composed of the poorest stock — can be sized with 
less effort and with greater rapidity than the better grades, and con- 
sequently, the sizers receive a lower price per dozen on such work. 
This often leads to differences of opinion between the workmen and the 
employers. 

After the bodies have been sized to the proper height and thick- 
ness they are "pinned out." The pinning-out machine consists of 
a revolving cone upon which the hat body is placed, and a second cone 
( of much smaller diameter at its base and shaped somewhat like a 
druggist's pestle) that presses against the outer surface of the fur 
hat body. As they revolve these two cones squeeze most of the water 
from the felt and the smaller acts as an iron. This wet ironing gives 
the felt a more uniform thickness, smoothes the surface somewhat, 
and gives the body a size more nearly exact than it is possible to give 
it in the kettles. Another pinning-out machine consists of a revolving 
cone upon which the hat is placed, and opposed to it a revolving 
disc, which takes the place of the second cone, described above. 

68 




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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

The hats are now placed in whizzers or centrifugal extractors 
and dried by the simple process of revolving them so fast that the 
water flies oft at a tangent, leaving them practically dry. 

In the Lee-McLachlan plant unusual attention has been given 
to the floor drainage. The presence of so much water, as the nature 
of the work in this department requires, means "wet feet." There is 
no way to avoid that inconvenience. But it can be mitigated, and it 
is in this factory, the floors being of concrete with sunken drains run- 
ning the length of the room and the workmen standing upon raised 
gratings as they work. Still the plank shop is no place for patent 
leather pumps, and, as the illustrations show, "dressiness" is not one 
of the considerations that weigh heavily on the minds of the journey- 
men during- working hours. A shirt and drawers, a coarse apron of 
rubber-coated duck, a pair of woe-begone shoes with holes for the 
water to run out of, and a cheerful disposition are all the essentials 
to a sizer's equipment. 



7i 



V 

Shaving, Etc. 

AFTER the hats are sized they are "shaved." The protruding 
fibres, that give the body a hairy appearance, are cut off by 
passing the hat body over a cone-shaped roller that brings 
the felt in contact with rapidly-revolving knives. 

After shaving, the finest hats, and especially the finer soft hats, 
are returned to the sizers for further manipulation, but that is seldom 
done in the case of stiff hats. 

The edge of the fur cone is, as yet, quite uneven. The bodies are, 
therefore, "rounded in the rough" — that is to say, they are passed 
between two circular knives that trim off the irregularities. The 
roundings — the waste from this process — are sent to the fur factory 
to he cut up into short stock. 

For the purpose of future identification the bodies are notched on 
their edges, the number of notches indicating the size of each body. 
This was formerly done with shears, but there are one or two ma- 
chines designed to perform the work more rapidly, consisting of a 
number of Y-shaped steel punches, which cut out the felt. 

DYEING 

Probably no branch of the hatting industry has undergone a 
greater change during the last twenty years than has taken place in 
the dyeing department, and probably no part of the work is so much 
a matter of guesswork. With the displacement of logwood dyes by 

i 73 



The Twentieth Century Mat Factory 

the anilines and alizarines, the time consumed in the dyeing process 
has been greatly reduced, the process simplified, the variations in color 
greatly increased and a better control over the results has been estab- 
lished; hut the solution of the various problems has not been reduced 
to an exact science by any means. With all the advantages of modern 
methods, and in spite of careful study on the part of both chemists 
and manufacturers, dyeing" felt still possesses more mystery than 
certainty. 

Xo doubt to the person who has given the matter little or no 
thought the dyeing of felt may appear to he as simple as painting a 
fence, but this is far from the truth. It is, of course, a simple matter 
to mix dyestuffs ot several different colors and obtain the desired 
shade. The difficulty arises when you attempt to impart that shade 
to the felt. The dye makers furnish the hat maker with sample hooks 
of dyed felt, accompanied by the formula for each color mixture rep- 
resented therein, hut they cannot safely guarantee that all felt dyed 
according" to their recipes will come out according to sample. Differ 
ences in fur mixtures — sometimes differences that are scarcely appre- 
ciable — make each attempt at dyeing a matter of experiment. The 
transparency of colors has much to do with this, as the natural colors 
of the fur fibres shine through and mingle with the colors of the 
dyestuffs, producing unexpected effects sometimes. 

Again, the dyestuff undergoes a chemical change upon coming 
in contact with the fur felt under certain conditions. The presence of 
lime, manganese and other mineral substances in suspension or solu- 

74 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

tion in the water of the dye vat, or deposited upon the fibres of the 
niterlike felt bodies in the sizing kettles, also affect the dyestuffs, and, 
as the nature and quantity of these water ingredients are ever vary- 
ing, they naturally make the dyeing- problems extremely perplexing. 
The presence of what we consider muddy water would make it quite 
impossible to dye the lighter shades, while vegetable and mineral 
matter in quantities barely appreciable to the casual glance will cause 
a waste of the dyestuff. 

Entirely apart from these problems there is the mechanical part 
to consider, and this is subject to all kinds of variation. For instance, 
some colors are obtained more satisfactorily if applied after the 
bodies have been stiffened, although as a rule the dyeing precedes the 
stiffening process. Again, if the hats are to be dyed a strong color — 
black, for example — they may be placed in vats of large capacity and 
stirred mechanically by means of slowly-moving paddles. If, how- 
ever, they are to be given one of the extremely delicate shades so often 
wanted in the soft hat, they can be placed in vats containing only a 
few bodies at a time, for their submersion in the dye bath beyond the 
exact time in which they absorb the proper amount of color would 
mean that the color would be intensified or deepened. In this case it is 
necessary to pole the bodies by hand and watch them with great care. 

It would hardly be worth while to go deeply into the subject of 
dyeing in this book; it is extremely technical, and in order to treat 
it in anything but the most superficial manner it would be necessary to 
devote more time and space to it than is practical for- the present pur- 

75 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

pose. Doubtless the great beauty and variety in the coloring <>! the 
hats to-day lead us to expect and demand the impossible. The writer 
will be content if he has impressed upon the reader the fact that lur- 
u-li dyeing is an infinitely complex matter. 

In the Lee-McLachlan Factory black dyeing is done on the first 
floor, while the colors are dyed on the second, to avoid the troubles 
that result from too close a contact with black materials, dye- 
si nffs, etc. 

STIFFENING OF STIFF HATS 

The hat body, still conical in shape, is now stiffened. The 
process, while quite simple, is most interesting, as it brings up at once 
a series of problems belonging strictly to the making of still hats and 
upon which the profit in hat manufacture is highly dependent. Obvi- 
ously it would not do to use a material for stiffening that would harden 
in lumps or ridges. Something must he used that will enter into the 
body of the felt smoothly and evenly. Moreover, as the hat must, 
in lime, he exposed to all kinds of weather, the material used for stiff- 
ening must not he readily soluble in water of a temperature usual in 
rain water. Shellac is used for this purpose, and, unfortunately for 
the hatters, no substitute has ever been discovered. The unfortunate 
part of it is the fact that shellac is a product of India alone, and its 
supply is in no way keeping pace with the increasing- demands for 
tins substance in the arts. Its cost is, consequently, subject to sudden 
and violent fluctuations, and forms one of the hazards of hat manu- 
facture that frequently turn profit into loss. There is only one sat- 

76 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

isfactory solvent for shellac. To be sure, in the old- fashioned water 
stiffening process the shellac was dissolved in hot water; but the pro- 
cess was very slow and quite unsuited to modern conditions. Denatured 
alcohol is the solvent now in use. The shellac is stirred into the 
alcohol until the solution is of the proper consistency, the proportions 
depending upon whether the stiffening is to be done by machine or 
by hand, and also upon the requisite degree of stiffness. In the hand 
process the hat body is dipped into the solution and then withdrawn. 
The operative using a brush or a "jack" scrubs or rolls the gum thor- 
oughlv into the felt. The machine used to accomplish the same pur- 
pose consists of rollers between which the hat passes, the rollers and 
a brush (through which the solution is applied to the hat) working 
the gum into the felt. The machine can be so regulated that more 
stiffening can be given to the part of the body that will become 
the brim. 

Taken from this bath, the hats are placed in ovens provided at 
the top with orifices through which the alcohol, vaporized by the heat, 
passes into a condenser. In the condenser it is again changed into 
liquid form, to be caught, refortified (the water taken out of it), and 
used again. With the substitution of grain alcohol for the wood 
alcohol the danger to health that attends the use of the latter has 
become a thing of the past. The discomfort and the various eve and 
throat troubles common among men working with wood alcohol have 
been experienced in the hat trade in the past probably more than in 
any other industry. 

77 



The Twentieth Century Mat Factory 

time, in order to dissolve it completely. This solution is of much lower 
specific gravity than the former. It is very liquid, running almost 
as freely as water. After its application and the. subsequent drying 
of the body the shellac is not found in very great quantity in the felt, 
and merely serves to give some resilience to the brim. 

There are two machines in use for the application of the stiffen- 
ing solution to the soft hat brims. The older invention consists of 
two revolving cylinders overhanging a vat containing the solution. 
The operative dips the body into the solution with the utmost care 
that only that part which is to become the brim is submerged. This 
calls for a clear eve and a steady hand. Pie then inserts the tip or 
apex of the conical body between the revolving cylinders, and, as it 
is drawn upward between them, the surplus solution is squeezed out. 
The felt, for some reason not fully understood, repels the solution ; it 
seems unwilling to absorb it. Sometimes, therefore, the body may 
require several immersions in the liquid before enough of the solution 
is absorbed to affect the required result. In this process the alkaline 
solution, coming in contact with the hands of the operative, is very 
apt to make them sore. The sal soda attacks the oils of the skin 
until it scales off in spots down to the raw. This trouble is some- 
what lessened by a later invention. 

The second machine is in many ways a great improvement over 
the old one. It consists of a feed tank containing the shellac solution, 
two rolls between which the brim is passed, and a receiving tank from 
which tin' solution not absorbed by the felt is pumped back into the 

8 1 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

feed tank. The latter is placed upon a level a little above the body of 
the machine, so that the solution will run from it freely, by gravita- 
tion, through a pipe to a point just in Front of the two rolls. The brim 
part of the body is inserted between the rolls, a guide being fixed in 
a position that permits only the desired part of the fell to he exposed 
to the solution, rind the solution is allowed to play upon it until enough 
has been absorbed. Experience teaches the operative just how much 
is needed in each body. 

After stiffening, the bodies are allowed to dry, and are then 
placed in a steam-filled hox for about twenty minutes to he cleared. 
The hot steam dissolves what little shellac there is in the outer sur- 
faces of the felt, and the stiffening is concentrated through the cen- 
tral section. Tn the Lee-McLachlan factory the stiffening room is 
on the second floor. 

The use of alcohol as a solvent is, of course, attended with con- 
siderable fire risk. As a rule, manufacturers are obliged by the insur- 
ance companies to separate their alcohol-using portion from the rest 
of the plant or suffer a very considerable increase in their insurance 
rates. Tn the Lee-McLachlan factory the denatured alcohol is 
brought to the premises in tank cars and from these conducted by 
gravitation through pipes to a 15,000-gallon tank in the yard. The 
shellac is cut, or dissolved, in the stock house, which is one of the 
separate buildings of the plant. From this stock house the shellac 
solution is pumped to the stiffening room every morning, and at night 
the unused portion is pumped back to the reservoir in the stock house. 

82 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

The alcohol recovery plant is on the second floor, in a room 
separated from the rest of the building by fireproof partitions. As 
soon as the recovery ovens accomplish their work the alcohol is 
pumped to a second 15,000-gallon tank placed beside the first in the 
yard. It is then refortified at the convenience of the concern. 

There are several factors tending" to give this system an advan- 
tage over the usual practice. In the first place, the receipt of the 
alcohol in tank cars instead of in barrels and its delivery on the spot 
where it is to be stored reduces the cost directly. In the second place, 
the fireproof construction of the recovery department and the removal 
of all surplus stiffening solution from the premises excepting during 
work hours reduces the fire hazard, and, as a result, cuts down the 
insurance rates to a minimum. As insurance rates on hat factories, 
as a rule, are heavy, this is an extremely important factor in the cost 
problem, and Messrs. Lee-McLachlan have, apparently, been suc- 
cessful in eliminating this in a very large measure, as far as their 
plant is concerned. 



83 



VI 
Tip and Brim Stretching and Blocking 

NOW the hats are to be put through the several processes 
whereby the first rough outlines of the crown and brim 
are to be given to the bodies, until now conical in shape. 
The stiff hat is dipped in hot water to soften the shellac stiffen- 
ing. The tip stretcher consists of two metal stars, one above the 
other. The upper star is stationary, and as the lower one moves up 
and down the fingers or rays of the upper one pass between the cor- 
responding rays of the lower. The cone or hat body is drawn over 
the lower star. As the lower star ascends, the felt is forced between 
its rays and is stretched in scallops. In the brim stretcher the same 
principles are involved, but the stars are so arranged that only the 
lower part of the fur cone, or what is to be the brim, is forced between 
the rays and stretched. 

The body is now bell-shaped. 

Now follows the "wet blocking" or "blocking out" process. In 
the Lee-McLachlan factory the blocking is done by hand, as it is 
held that machine blocking puts more strain on the bodies than they 
should be given at this stage. Hand blocking preserves the texture 
and allows the body to retain its natural strength and smoothness. 
In machine work the body is drawn over a metal block made up of a 
number of separate fingers or levers, each lever forming a small seg- 
ment of the entire circumference. The block is encircled by a rub- 
ber pad. so that the pressure on the felt when the fingers are spread 

85 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

out will be more evenly distributed. Metal fingers grasp the edges 

of the body and pull downward and outward, stretching the felt over 
the block, and at the same time widening the bell. A metal collar, 
swinging on a hinge and worked with a lever, is brought down over 
tbe block slowly and gradually, so as not to break the felt. This col- 
lar fits closely to the block, and, as the edge of the body is held firmly 
on all sides, the Felt is stretched to conform to the shape of the block. 
The lexers of which the block is composed expand and stretch the 
crown as required. A bucket of cold water is now poured over the 
body, cooling it off and hardening the shellac. When the hat is lifted 
it has a crown and brim, but the crown is not as yet of the proper 
dimensions. 

The hat, somewhat softened by steam, is now placed on a wooden 
block. The operative, taking up a tool adapted to the purpose, presses 
firmly against the felt, following the rough angle between the crown 
and the brim. This sharpens that angle until it is of the proper 90 
degrees. This operation also moulds the crown to a shape and size 
closely approximating that to which it must conform in the 
finished hat. 

The tip and brim stretching and wet blocking processes in soft 
and stiff hat making are very similar, and a separate description of 
each would be needless repetition. 

The hats, still wet, are placed in centrifugal extractors, or whiz- 
zers, which, revolving with great rapidity, force out the water. These 
whizzers remove the greater part of the water from the hats, but 

86 




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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

if they were run so fast that every particle of moisture was driven out 
of the bodies the chances are that the felt itself would suffer in its 
texture. It is necessary to dry them by a gentler process. 

This is accomplished in the Lee-McLachlan plant by placing* the 
bodies on racks which travel up and down on an endless chain con- 
veyor through a heated compartment. 

The mere application of heat vaporizes the moisture, but what 
to do with the vapor has always been the serious problem that presents 
itself at this stage of hat manufacture. It is evident that in a con- 
fined space containing a large quantity of wet hat bodies the appli- 
cation of heat would merely at first saturate the air with water 
vapor, and then, when the air became thoroughly saturated, when the 
burden of moisture became too great for the air to absorb, the mois- 
ture would be precipitated again. The cause and effect are similar 
to the evaporation of water by the heat of the sun from the sea, its 
accumulation in the form of clouds, water vapor, and its precipita- 
tion in the form of rain. 

This would, of course, interfere seriously with the drying process. 
It is exactly what took place under the old method of drying the hats 
in rooms heated by steam pipes, and the only reason hats ever dried 
in such rooms was because the walls and doorways permitted a slow 
but constant escape of the moist air. Even then it takes a very long 
time to dry the bodies under such conditions, and the time thus 
spent means the tying up of capital upon which interest must be paid, 
delay in deliveries, which often means cancellation of -orders, and, at 

89 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

best, dissatisfaction on the part of customers. Moreover, the Kiel 
wasted in heating these rooms and keeping them hot during a great 
many hours is a very considerable addition to the cost of the hats 

per dozen. 

Various methods have been devised to overcome this expense. 
One was to raise the hats slowly through a steam-pipe heated cham- 
ber in which the heavy, moisture-laden air would collect at the bot- 
tom, while the drier air would be higher up, in the region from 
which the hats were taken from the compartment into the front shop. 
Another method was t«> place the bodies in a metal-lined compartment 
and force in hot. dry air. while the saturated air was pumped out. Tt 
is claimed that, while both of these methods are distinctly in advance 
of the older method, they .are not entirely satisfactory, the former 
because it is rather slow and not uniform in its work, the latter because 
it necessitates a delay in the progress of the drying process whenever 
the bodies are put in or taken out. 

The method in the Lee-McLachlan plant is a combination of the 
two just described, or. rather, it is a combination of modified forms of 
these two processes. 

Tt consists of a tower, fireproof, with entrances on each floor of 
the back shop and front-shop wing, which it joins at their intersection. 
In this tower an endless-chain conveyor carries the racks full of hats 
up and down, from the bottom to the top and from the top to the 
bottom, and from one side of the shaft to the other, through an end- 
less course. Superheated air, heated by coils fed with exhaust steam 

90 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

from the power plant, is driven into the room by a powerful blower. 
The hot, dry air enters the tower through orifices in the floor. Pass- 
ing upward, it takes up its burden of moisture from the hat bodies. 
Forced upward by the continuous pressure back of it, it passes out 
through an outlet in the roof. It has not time to cool, nor can it 
remain long enough to absorb more moisture than it can carry. 

If the pressure were not properly regulated the hats might be 
blown from the racks, but the proper velocity was readily ascertained 
by experiment, and, once established, it was easily controlled. The 
temperature also is under perfect control, so that by a judicious com- 
bination of temperature and velocity the moisture is held in suspen- 
sion until it passes from the room. 

The hats may be taken from the racks wherever and whenever 
they are wanted through the doors leading to the various depart- 
ments. Those not immediately required are placed in the stock 
room on the top floor of the back-shop wing. 



Qi 



VII 

The Front Shop 

THE purpose of the back shop is to provide a body of the 
requisite strength, texture, weight and color, in which 
the "selling" characteristics exist, but for the most part 
in a latent state. In the front shop these "selling" qualities are 
brought into prominence. They are symmetry and beauty — nothing- 
more. It is like the work in a sculptor's studio, where the figure is 
roug'hly hewn from the mass by methods painstaking-, perhaps, but 
somewhat more reckless than the careful work of the master sculptor 
who gives the stone its final details of shape and finish. Just as the 
errors in blocking out the rough stone may make the finishing an 
impossibility, so do the errors and imperfections of the back shop 
make the front shop work impossible, for in the finishing- these imper- 
fections are brought to light, brought into glaring- prominence, in 
fact. So, after all, we know that the most important part of hatting, 
as of almost everything - else, is in the foundation, in the substantial 
elements of the body. The beauty of a hat, being superficial in its 
endurance, indeed its existence, depends on the perfection of the body 
upon whose surface it appears. 

Hat finishing, either soft or stiff, consists in shaping the body, 
both crown and brim, removing the protruding- fur fibres that give 
the body a dull, fuzzy appearance, smoothing- the felt with irons and 
pads so that the surface fibres will all lie pointing in the same direc- 
tion, and trimming with bands, binding', leathers, etc. In hatting par- 

j 

93 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

lance, however, the "finishing" room is devoted to only a part of these 
processes, while others are conducted in other departments. We shall 
follow the regular procedure in this article and trace the hat through 
its regular course, commencing with the 

FI NISH I NG DEPARTM E X T 

Front shop methods in soft and stiff hat manufacture are radi- 
cally different, are conducted in separate departments, and must be 
separately described. 

SOFT II AT FINISH I X ( ', 

After tip and brim stretching and drying, the bodies are crown 
pounced. The soft hatter uses the simple upright lathe for pouncing 
at this stage. This lathe consists of a revolving vertical shaft with a 
crown-shaped wooden block at its upper end. The hat is fitted over 
this block and the operative, holding a pad of pouncing paper in his 
hands, rubs the coarse surface of the felt with it until it is sufficiently 
smooth. A curved collar of tin partly surrounds the circular table 
through which the shaft protrudes, and one or more suction pipes 
lead from this collar to an air pump. As the fine particles of fur 
are worn off they are carried away through these pipes before they 
have a chance to get out into the room. Sometimes the operative 
rubs too hard and cuts too deeply into the felt, or in pouncing he may 
bring to light some flaw which cannot be eradicated. In either case 
he simply turns the body inside out and pounces the other side. The 

94 




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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

brim is pounced by a machine, consisting of two rolls covered with 
pouncing" paper, between which the brim is passed. This preliminary 
finishing- process for soft hats is conducted on the top floor of the back 
shop wing of the Lee-McLachlan plant and when the hats are dried 
they are delivered through a door of the drying room to the soft hat 
finishing room on the top floor of the front shop wing. 

Here they are taken in hand by the "blocker." The blocker 
places the hat over a jet of steam for a brief period, in order to obtain 
the heat and moisture which are absolutely necessary when changes 
in the shape of the felt are desired. Then, stretching the crown over 
the wooden block of exactly the right shape, he pulls the felt down 
snugly. He is aided in this by a wooden hand tool made especially 
for the purpose, which he presses against the brim as closely as pos- 
sible to the block. At intervals he steams the crown and stretches 
it over the block. A string wound tightly around the hat where 
crown and brim join holds it firmly in place, and it is allowed to dry 
quickly. 

After the blocker has stretched and shrunk the crown until it 
fits its block like a glove, the brim is ironed. The operative alter- 
nately dampens the felt and presses it with an iron heated by elec- 
tricity. The wetting" and drying "brings up" the shellac, what little 
there is of it in a soft hat brim. It also serves to knit the fur fibres 
in the brim closer together. 

In ironing the crown of the hat a machine is employed. This 
ironing machine is one of the important labor saving inventions in 

97 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

hatting machinery. It was originally invented by the late Mr. 
Charles Reid, but although the present machine is based upon the 
principles of the original invention it has been so thoroughly perfected 
by the inventor's nephews, Messrs. Doran Brothers, that its useful- 
ness is enormously enhanced and it is used in every finishing shop 
in the country. To describe it briefly is somewhat difficult, but were 
we to describe every machine in detail it is possible that the reader 
mighl grow somewhat weary before our work is accomplished. 
Briefly, then, the hat is placed on a block at the end of a revolving 
horizontal shaft. An electrically heated iron on a swinging arm 
passes over the revolving block from side to side, ironing the entire 
crown. By a somewhat complicated system of gears and cams the 
shaft to which the block is attached is made to oscillate slightly, so 
that there is no "jump" as the iron passes over the quarters of the 
hat. The shaft also changes its speed automatically during several 
parts of each revolution. The result is a uniformity in ironing that 
cannot be excelled by hand work, and a speed in operation that 
enables one operator to do the work of a number working by hand. 
The use of electricity for heating the iron is distinctly new. More- 
over, it is most certainly a benefit to the operative, for there are none 
of the gases of combustion vitiating the air, and it does away entirely 
with soot or smut that was often an objectionable feature of the gas 
apparatus. Tt means a step in advance in hat factory methods. The 
iron is heated to 400° Fahrenheit. 

While the hat is on the block the operator wets it occasionally. 

98 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

It is only by alternate wetting- and drying" of the felt that the pressure 
exerted by the iron can be made to accomplish its purpose, which is 
to knit the fur fibres together firmly in the positions they must hold 
under all future conditions of heat and cold, dryness or humidity. The 
hat is getting nearer to the wearer every minute and his require- 
ments are receiving more attention. 

After having - been ironed the hat is passed to the pouncers. The 
brim is pounced on both sides, this time by hand. Once before, you 
remember, the crown and brim were pounced, just enough to remove 
the roughness of the felt. This time the work is more careful and 
thorough, for the surface given at this stage will have a great deal 
to do with its value from the consumer's standpoint. 

Crown pouncing is very generally done by hand on the better 
grades of hats, although machines are also in use for this work. The 
pouncer works at an upright lathe with a rubber block attached, over 
which the hat is fitted. He rubs the surface of the felt with a pad 
of pouncing paper. Pouncing grease is applied to the felt by means 
of pads held in the hand. 

Pouncing is attractive w r ork in some ways, although the presence 
of fine particles of fur in the air is objectionable. It is interesting to 
watch the dull felt come up to a clear, bright color while the process 
is under way. 

After the hats have been pounced and lured they are subjected 
to a careful scrutiny, and those improperly made or containing some 
flaw that cannot be eradicated are put to one side to be completed and 

j 

99 



The Twentiitii O:\tiuy Hat Factory 

sold as seconds, or, if unfit even for this use, to be made into shoddy. 
While such imperfections as thin spots in the felt or surface dags may 
be noticed and remedied at earlier stages in the development of the 
hat, there are many other imperfections that come to light only when 
the finishing lias progressed almost or quite to its completion. Streaks 
and the body dags (lumps of matted hair that have become imbedded 
within the felt) do not show up until the pouncing and luring have 
ground down the rough surface. Dags that were too minute to 
he readily seen in the first stages swell to twice their original size 
when they have absorbed the shellac stiffening and dvestuffs. Some- 
times they may he removed with tweezers with but little difficulty. 
Often it is necessary to drop a little alcohol on the spot to dissolve the 
shellac before the imperfection can he removed. 

At this stage the brim on the hat is uneven in outline and per- 
fectly Hat. It must he trimmed down to the proper shape and size 
and given the curves we see when it is ready for wear. The felt is 
cut down by machine. Those in general use are the Reid "Round- 
ing Machines." The hat is placed on a block, the brim resting on 
a metal plate. As it revolves a knife, automatically guided, approaches 
the crown or withdraws from it. cutting the brim to the required 
dimensions. 

The curl is given to the brim by means of a machine, but it is 
a machine that does not eliminate the necessity for skill on the part of 
the operative. After he dampens the edge of the brim he fits it 
betw T een two small wheels. One of these wheels, the one at the back 

ioo 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

of the machine farthest away from the hat, is heated by electricity. 
With one hand the curler guides the brim as it enters the wheels, 
bending it into the exact curl required in the finished product. The 
mark of a curler, by the way, used to be a scorched and scaly fore- 
finger, a token of frequent contact with the gas flame; but with the 
electrc heating device this unpleasant conditon is removed. As 
the brim emerges from the wheels it is dampened by means of a wet 
sponge held in the operative's left hand. After the hat has revolved 
several times exactly the right curl has been given the brim. The 
control of the shape and size of the curl rests entirely with the opera- 
tive, the machine merely pressing the felt into the shape he gives. 

From this stage the hats, on racks containing a dozen each, are 
passed to the examiner or inspector for thorough scrutiny before they 
are sent to the trimming room. Before going to the trimming room 
let us follow the stiff hat through its course in the finishing room. 
This will not be much of a strain on the reader's patience, for where 
the processes are similar to those of the soft hat finishing department 
we shall make excellent progress. When we undertook to lead our 
readers through a "Twentieth Century Hat Factory" we did not 
promise to do so without subjecting them to some mental exertion. 

STIFF-HAT FINISHING 

In the Lee-McLachlan plant this department is on the third floor 
of the front shop wing. 

When the hats arrive in the finishing room they are absolutely 

IOI 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

dry. Now they arc to be given a crown of the exact size and dimen- 
sions required by the prevailing fashions. This is also done by 
machinery. It is not flattering to our pride in Yankee shrewdness 
to reflect that the machine method of pressing derby hats was in use 
in England about a quarter of a century before it was introduced 
here. I will not, for good reasons, say what manufacturer first 
introduced the machine here. In the first place, each of the older 
manufacturers firmly believes that he was the first to use the machine 
in this country, and any hint that some other fellow did is a call to 
arms. After all, the introduction was not attended by much glory, 
for when the machines were brought here no one understood them, 
and they did not come into general use until some Englishmen came 
over here and showed us how they worked. 

The old hand method consisted in ironing the crown over a block 
of the right shape. In the light of present trim crowns the old hand- 
made crowns were but sorry spectacles. 

In machine pressing, the hat is placed, crown downward, in an 
iron mould of the exact shape that is to be given the finished crown. 
A flat iron ring is placed upon the brim of the hat. A rubber bag 
of best quality is then lowered into the crown, and the part of the 
machine to which this bag is attached is firmly clamped down. The 
operator throws open a valve and a current of water enters the ba? 
distending it and pressing- it outward against the inside of the crown. 
After a few seconds the water is released, the bag raised, and the 

1 02 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

crown of the hat is found to have taken the exact shape of the 
iron mould in which it lias rested. 

In order that the hat will stretch, it is necessary to soften the 
stiffening somewhat by placing- it in an oven for a few minutes before 
it is to be put in the press. These ovens are usually steam-heated, 
but in the Lee-McLachlan plant electricity is used. The steam- 
heating" method is wasteful, in that the same pressure of steam must 
be used whether the hats in the oven are of the heaviest weight or 
the lightest. Obviously it takes less heat to soften the shellac in the 
latter than in the former, and, with the electric heating apparatus, 
this may be controlled exactly and according to clear directions. Not 
only is there a waste of heat in the old method, but as the same heat 
is applied to light weights as to heavies the former are liable to dam- 
age in the press through their excessive softness and weakness, while 
the latter ma)" be insufficiently softened, and, therefore, almost equally 
liable to injur}'. 

The water enters the press under pressure of several hundred 
pounds. This pressure is applied by a pump on the ground floor, 
from which a pipe leads to an iron retort in the finishing room, which, 
in turn, is connected to each press by smaller conduits. 

The hats, although their crowns are shaped, are still rough and 
hairy in their superficial appearance. The)- must be brim-pounced 
and crown-pounced. Tbe Turner brim pouncing machine is in gen- 
eral use. It is not a recent invention, lint it is one that is highly 
efficient, so much so that further improvement is unlikely. It con- 

105 



The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

sists of two rolls through which the brim is drawn, and two recipro- 
cating pouncing pads which pounce the upper and under sides of the 
brim at the same time. Crown pouncing of stiff hats, as of soft hats, 
is usually dune by hand. The hat is drawn over a block on an upright 
lathe, as in the case of a soft hat, but the pouncer's work presents 
differenl problems. The presence of shellac in the stiff hat changes 
the conditions of the work considerably, for the pouncer'must he 
extremely careful to avoid wearing down the fur to such an extent 
as to reveal the hidden shellac. If it is worn too deeply even in one 
small spot, the work of all the other departments will be wasted, for 
the hat must he thrown out. 

It happens that as this book was being prepared for press a new 
crown pouncing machine was installed in the Lee-McLachlan factory 
for experimental purposes on stiff hats. Naturally, the firm will pro- 
ceed with caution in its use until a thorough trial has proven its value. 
This machine is similar in action to the ironing machine, but a rapidly 
reciprocating pad of pouncing- paper takes the place of the electrically- 
heated iron. All the eccentric motions of the ironing machine are 
multiplied in the pouncing machine. It is so completely automatic that 
it may be said to actually duplicate the action of the human pouncer; 
but, of course, its work is done more rapidly. 

The brims are then rounded as in soft hatting and the rough edge 
is cut to the proper dimensions. The roundings, or waste, cut off in 
this process may he utilized, the shellac being dissolved and recovered 



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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

and the fur chopped up into short stock, the hatters' equivalent of 
shoddy. 

The brims are now "edged up" — that is, turned up along the 
extreme edge, without regard to what is known as the curl, although 
the turned-up edge may be wide or narrow, according to the needs 
of fashion. 

There is a further mechanical operation, both in soft and stiff 
hat manufacture, at this stage; but as it lies on the borderland be- 
tween finishing and trimming, pertaining as much to one as to the 
other, we will save its discussion until the next chapter. 



109 



VIII 

Soft Hat Trimming 

IN the last chapter we mentioned the fact that there are some 
minor processes that are on the borderland between finishing 
and trimming, pertaining as much to the one as to the other. 
By this we refer mainly to the flanging processes. Soft hats with 
a raw edge are flanged but once, while those that are bound are 
flanged both before and after the trimmings have been affixed. 

This flanging process is merely another way of doing what has 
been done so often before in the various processes — namely, altering 
the shape of the hat by means of the application of heat, moisture 
and pressure. 

In soft hatting the flanging is a matter of hand work almost 
entirely. In the usual hat factory the flanger works at a bench, 
behind which is a broad and long iron table heated by steam. Upon 
this heater rests a bag of sand attached to a metal part very much 
like an inverted dish pan ; from this part a small rope passes over a 
pulley in the ceiling and down within reach of the operative, where 
it terminates in a convenient handle. The flange is a block of wood 
cut to the exact shape required in the brim. Through the center of 
this block is a hole large enough to accommodate the crown of the hat 
when it is placed upside down upon the flange. The hat is fitted over 
this flange with considerable care, the brim is moistened, the flanger 
pulls the overhead cord and lifts the sand bag from the heater, letting 
it swing into position just over the flange. When the bag is lowered 

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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

the brim, under the influence of pressure, heal and moisture, soon 
takes the exact shape of the flange. It is then ironed while it is still 
resting on the flange, and as the hot iron removes the moisture the 
shape of the brim becomes fixed. 

Now in the Twentieth Century Hat Factory of the Lee- 
McLachlan Company there are two changes that mark what we 
believe to he a notable advance in this process. In the first place, the 
sand bag above mentioned is heated by electricity, which is conducted 
through a copper wire coil within the bag. This does away entirely 
ith the cumbersome and wasteful, not to say uncomfortable, heating 
table. Instead of a large area of surface giving off heat, to the dis- 
comfort of the operator and the loss of the owner, the heat is kept 
within a comparatively small space, and is capable of being regulated 
to a nicety. The second difference is in the fact that the irons used 
are. as a rule, heated by gas, which is not as cleanly as may he desired 
when manipulating delicate colors, and which also generates more or 
less fumes of combustion that cannot hut he harmful to the operativ 
who is inhaling them day after day. Tn this factory the irons a 
electrically heated. 

TRIMMING ROOM 

The trimming room is no place for a male visitor, and we would 
pass over it with utmost despatch, with our eyes straight before us, 
if it were possible to do so; but, although the writer has been wander- 

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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

ing through trimming rooms for the past ten years, he has never yet 
seen the man who could keep his eyes straight before him. Therefore, 
it is natural that he should note some of the interesting features of 
this department and be able to describe a few of the differences between 
the trimming room in "The Twentieth Century Hat Factory" and 
those of the less advanced establishments. 

In soft hatting, the bands, bindings and leathers are of the utmost 
importance as factors in the general appearance of the hat; its beauty 
may be made or marred by a selection of bands and bindings. The 
hats themselves are made in such a great variety of colors and shades 
that great care and good judgment, as well as good taste, must be 
exercised in the selection of suitable trimmings. We shall not go 
into all of the infinite number of important little details pertaining to 
this department. It is really worth doing, but the subject is one that, 
to be treated fully, would require much more space than we can give 
it in the present instance. We will, however, cite an example of the 
nature of these details. There are various widths of bindings, of 
course; but, leaving that question aside, there are numerous factors 
that may add to the difficulty and expense. If the binding is to show 
the same width above and beneath the brim, the needle merely passes 
back and forth through the whole thing. If, however, the binding 
is to show a greater width on one side than on the other, the short 
side is first sewed to the brim, and, after the ribbon is turned over the 
edge, the long side is sewed. This doubles the number of operations. 

In stiff hatting the binding may be brought together at its two 

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The Twentieth Century Mat Factory 

ends before it is placed on the hat and then snapped into its proper 
position; but in soft hatting it must be measured off, sewed on the 
brim, and then have its ends brought together. 

The making of bows calls for skill and taste on the part of the girl 
operative, and the more skillful n\ them are very much in demand. 

The Lee-McLachlan trimming room has some distinguishing; 
characteristics that may be worth mentioning. Its lighting is one of 
these. Down each side of the room, hanging from the ceiling at very 
short intervals, there are innumerable Tungsten lights that Hood the 
whole interior of the room with a clear, strong light, making it pos- 
sible for the trimmers to see the finest work as clearly in the late 
afternoon as in the daytime. At each sewing machine there is a light, 
so arranged that it may be twisted and turned in every direction to 
throw its rays upon any part of the machine where they may 
be required. 

The machines themselves are quite remarkable inventions. 
During some little time there has been a vogue for soft hats with 
parallel stitches running round the brim practically from the crown 
to the edge. To do this work on the regular sewing-machine, even 
with a guide, is an expensive process, as the work is paid for by the 
piece and each time around the hat is considered one operation. The 
latest improvement in these machines runs nine parallel stitches 
around the hat in one operation ; there are nine spools of silk, nine 
needles and nine bobbins. This is beyond question a true labor- 
saving device. The machines, of course, are all driven by electricity. 

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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

The soft hats after being trimmed are returned to their racks 
and sent down to the packing- room by elevator. 

STIFF HAT MATRICING 

The presence of a great deal of shellac in the brim of a stiff hat 
makes the process by which the shape is given to the brim much more 
severe. First, greater pressure must be applied, and sufficient heat 
to soften the shellac. Under the old method the hats were placed 
brim downward on a steam-heated table until the shellac had softened. 
These tables required a pressure of 90 pounds of steam winter and 
summer. The same degree of heat was given to different weights 
of hats, and there was, as in the older method of soft-hat flanging, a 
large area of heating surface that was not put to any use. This, on 
the face of it, was wasteful. The new method may be briefly 
described as follows: The table upon which the hats are laid is 
equipped with three copper rings, flat, and conforming roughly to 
the shape and width of the hat brim. These rings rest upon a thin 
foundation of asbestos, and are themselves made of two layers of 
copper with an intervening layer of mica. The electric current is 
conducted through them, and, on account of the resistance offered by 
the mica, heat is generated, which, of course, is transmitted to the hat 
placed upon the copper rings. Through the center of these rings 
a waterback conforming, in a general way, to the dimensions of the 
inside of a crown and filled with running cold water, keeps the tem- 
perature of the crown below the point at which the shellac would be 

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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

softened. The amount of heat generated is controlled to a nicety by 

a rheostat, so that there is practically no waste of heat energy what- 
ever. After the shellac is sufficiently softened, the hat is placed once 
more in a press and the brim moulded into its proper shape, or "set." 
The iron mold is known as a matrix. As there is an infinite variety 
of '"sets," the question of the cost of matrices is very important to the 
hat manufacturer. I kindreds of them must he kept on hand, and each 
season new ones of different shapes must he provided. Frequently 
much of this expense is a pure loss. 

\\ hen the brim is "set" it must he planed along its edges with a 
hand plane, to smooth it down and sharpen it preparatory to receiving 
the binding. Wires are placed within the edged-up curl to insure 
sufficient spring to the brim. These wires are not used, however, on 
the finer grades. In the Lee-McLachlan factory a machine is in use 
for the manufacture of wires to fit the hat exactly — that is to say, when 
the order goes through the factory the wire maker is notified of the 
exact shape he is to make his hat wires, and by the time the hats 
reach this stage of manufacture he has the wires ready and waiting, 
suitably numbered and marked with the order number, etc. 

STIFF HAT TRIMMING ROOM 

There is no radical difference hetween stiff and soft hat trim- 
ming" that is worthy of special consideration here. 

First a girl measures and cuts off the proper length of binding 
for each hat, the second sews the ends together, the third stitches the 

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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

binding - to the under side of the brim by machine or hand, the fourth 
turns the binding up and over the edge of the curl and stitches it down 
by hand; the sweat leathers are then fitted loosely in each hat and 
passed on to be stitched to the hat by machine ; the band is then stitched 
on, the bows attached, the labels are pasted in the crown, and the hat 
is ready for the packing room. We may remark, in passing, that in 
this factory the labels are printed and the leathers reeded and stitched 
on the premises. 

p PACKING ROOM 

The hats arrive on the ground floor by elevator, although they 
have been conducted through the various departments on an endless 
chain conveyor. Arriving on the ground floor the stiff hats are put 
on one side of the room and the softs on the other, for inspection. 
They are given a last brush, polish and examination before being 
placed in the cardboard boxes and wooden cases or crates for ship- 
ment. If there are soft hats that are to be telescoped, the telescoping" 
is usually done in this department, in which case the operative places 
some pieces of cardboard, or a metallic ring, cut to the proper height, 
within the crown, presses the tip inward and fits it snugly against the 
cardboard; he then puts a smaller ring within the indented cup, turns 
the hat over and presses the crown upward again. After running the 
creases around with his fingers, he takes out the cardboard and the 
telescope is complete. 

The racks that have been relieved of their burden of hats are 
stored in this room unless they are needed in the other departments, 
in which case they are placed upon the endless chain conveyor, which 

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The Twentieth Century Hat Factory 

takes them to the finishing rooms on the upper floors. The ground 
floor of the front shop also contains a carpenter shop for making 
cases, a box factory for making the cardboard boxes, a printing plant 
for printing labels, etc., a machine shop for repair work, and the 
packing room previously described. The door of the packing room 
opens on a switch, so that the freight passes directly from the shop 
into cars for shipment to any part of the country to which it is destined. 

CONCLUSION 

In closing this description of the Lee-McLachlan "Twentieth 
Century Hat Factory" and its methods it may be well to write of some 
of the things that arc planned, but that have not yet been executed. 
The whole place of several acres is to be fenced in and admission will 
be obtained only through the main gate, at which a watchman will be 
stationed. The grounds are being leveled, and a baseball field will be 
prepared for the workmen. A club-house is also planned, in which 
the employees will have every facility for recreation and enjoyment 
in their leisure hours. An artesian well is to be driven to provide the 
men and women in the factory with drinking water and for use in 
dyeing delicate colors. 

There are many details about this establishment that have not 

been mentioned, and those who are familiar with it will, on concluding 

this reading, think of any number of little things that should have been 

recorded. The writer himself has some in mind; but, as it is a wise 

writer who knows when to stop, he feels that the stopping point has 

been reached, and trusts that this work has not been without interest 

to the readers. 

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